NEWLY freed pensioners Brian Quail and Angie Zelter have given The National and its readers a special thank you after their stint behind bars.

The pair were freed from jail after courts dropped demands forbidding them from going anywhere near Scotland’s nuclear submarines.

The pensioners were detained on July 10 for their role in a blockade of a nuclear warhead store at Coulport on Loch Long as part of the Trident Ploughshares campaign.

After refusing to accept bail terms which disallowed them from venturing “within 100m of the perimeter fence or shoreline of HMS Naval Base Clyde, Faslane”, both were locked up for nine days.

Unable to see a newspaper until their release on Wednesday, Quail told The National he was unaware of the level of support they had received until they picked up a copy of the paper.

“The first thing I want to do is express my gratitude to The National, praising the newspaper’s principled anti-Trident position.

“The high quality of your regular journalists makes your paper truly unique, and justifies my constant promotion among friends and strangers alike of The National.

“You have become a major player in the struggle to get rid of Trident and gain independence for Scotland. So, my heartfelt thanks to you”, Quail stated.

The campaigner was also moved by the support of The National readers, who “brought considerable relief of the tedium of imprisonment”.

In particular, Quail has appealed to the sender of a three-page letter which was lost during his moving-out process, when prison officers were left in charge of clearing out his cell.

The 79-year-old had set the letter aside to be answered when he was liberated. “I don’t remember the name of the sender, only that he works for autism. So if he sees this and sends me another copy, I can reply to him,” Quail explained.

Despite his recent spell behind bars, Quail has no intention of resting on his laurels. “There’s work to be done,” he defiantly stated.

He wasted no time during his first 24 hours of freedom, underlining his commitment to the anti-nuclear cause by immediately visiting the Faslane site the court had tried to ban him from – to the bemusement of the armed guards.

The next undertaking for the pensioner? Juggling a legal battle with a nuclear protest.

“I have a trial on October 12 to prepare for, and I must redouble my efforts to send Trident back to Hell where it came from.

“That starts with trying to convince the courts – which I have done in the past with a spectacular lack of success – that Trident is no good.”

Read Brian Quail's latest letter to The National here:

http://thenational.scot/admin/?action=edit&article_id=15439199